More Ruminations 2008-08-02

One of my many diversions is the listening to iTunes Podcasts. Doing so has exposed me to a genre I’ve always eschewed on television; the talk show host. The majority of podcasts I subscribe to are audio-only and given my interest in books I subscribe to several. Now it’s one thing for book club members to discuss a book they are reading but to my mind quite another for a host to prattle on during an interview when the author is actually present. Although I’ve always enjoyed reading I abhor the dialectical analysis of literature that pervades its teaching becoming ever more turgid the higher one goes in the education system. It’s what led MacCluhan to declare that if the dime novel were taught the way schools teach Shakespeare no one would ever read another.

Getting back to podcasts I agree that it behoves a host to have read the books of the writer he’s about to interview so that he can ask intelligent questions; but it’s quite another to monopolise the conversation with long-winded erudition concerning the incites the host has made during the course of his studies. Especially so when he finds things the author himself never intended. Such is my growing disenchantment with John Holland of the Guardian Book Club. It doesn’t help that I find his voice grating on the ear.

*****************

Illicit pictures of the Jolie/Pitt Twins reportedly sold for $14M. No matter that they are mega-stars pulling in $20M a picture in Hollywood to me the invasion of privacy this represents is a crime and were I this couple I’d sue the people who made this ill-gotten gain for every penny they’re worth. This pair do not need the money but if the suit were to succeed there are plenty of worthy charities out there. To me it’s the principle of the thing; someone has to do something to apply legal chill to the jackals who so hound celebrities. The Paparazzi will continue these depredations until something is done to make their activities unprofitable.

Below this entry is an article from Geist Magazine regarding the History of the Calgary Stampede I found interesting. As I’ve said numerous times before I’d have like to have seen Niagara Falls the way the first missionary discoverer saw it in its pristine state especially since the Canadian and American Falls were almost side by side in those days. In the same way the thought of being part of a crowd of one million plus people at the Stampede sounds scary to me. Better to have seen it in the days when the event was still relatively small. The crowds it attracts today are simply overwhelming.